Turn, Turn, Turn

If you were around in 1965 — or if you listen to the classic radio station on your satellite radio — you probably know a song from The Byrds called “Turn! Turn! Turn!”

If I’m honest (which is pretty much required of pastors), I didn’t realize the song came straight out of the Bible until sometime in the 1980s.

And with the start of Fall this week, my mind went right back to that special chapter in Ecclesiastes:

3:1 — “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”

It’s a reminder that seasons, priorities, and responsibilities change as the scripture tells us there is:

• a time to be born and a time to die,
• a time to plant and a time to uproot,
• a time to kill and a time to heal,
• a time to love and a time to hate,
• a time for war and a time for peace.

There are more verses, but you get the idea. The author is telling Old Testament readers — and now you and me — that God has our lives in His hands. No matter what season we’re in, it is God who is in charge.

And with Fall beginning, I’m looking forward to some cooler weather and maybe even some rain. But more than that, I’m finding a deeper need to praise, to believe, and to spend time thinking about godliness… and maybe even a little less time thinking about football.  (Yes, I know, those are fighting words in Texas.)

What about you? As this new season begins, what are your priorities? Are you focused on the world? Or are you praying for direction, for the Spirit’s guidance, and for strength to grow closer to our heavenly Father?

We all need to think about where we fit in God’s world. The seasons come and go, but there will come a season when we will be accountable — when we will be asked to give an accounting of our lives.

Did we live in faith that Christ is Lord? Or did the start of Fall mean nothing more than getting a hunting license and preparing the house for winter?

The author of Ecclesiastes seems to be saying that too. No matter what we do, we are in God’s hands — and he adds that God has placed something in us that we cannot fully solve or understand on our own:

3:11 — “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

Isn’t that true? As Christian believers, we want to be in a right space with God. We want to do God’s will. But to do that, we have to understand that we don’t fully understand the will of God without being immersed in His Word and continuing to strive toward perfect love through the sanctifying grace of God.

Enjoy fall, and pumpkins, and football, but remember the seasons are from God.  The seasons belong to God.  The seasons are a reminder that our times are in the hands of a loving God.